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Dear Reader,
Hi. Yes. It’s Harumi Kurose here.
And he would like to inform the reader that he despised English Debate club. And damn all those who pressured him into this shit-show of pretentious fucks. Thanks.
Excuse the harsh start, but Harumi wasn’t too happy about being dragged from the comfort of his home during his precious weekend where he could be doing literally anything else– like eating ice cream with Big Sis and Aki while they complained about the unpleasant heat– than be here.
Here being: Suisha High School.
For an English Debate practice meet.
Harumi would like to emphasize again. Practice.
He sipped his juice with a frown, his eyes twitching as both Higasa and Suisha’s English Debate teams yelled over each other. Curses and just overall rude things were being thrown like snowballs with rocks hidden in the center.
Even the captains were arguing with each other.
Harumi had already gotten his first round over with, and that was just about as far as both teams got before hurling insults at each other over their respective opinions and takes.
The last topic had been: Could the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet have been prevented? Higasa had won with the very obvious yes.
The current topic?
Was tomato a fruit or vegetable?
Harumi narrowly dodged a flying ( sharpened ) pencil before he decided he’d had more than enough.
Standing up, his chair squealed against the floor. It was loud enough accompanied by the fact that he still had the presence the childish title of Ice Prince gave him to have the room steadily fall into silence.
Eyes narrowed, apprehensive, and awed, suspenseful, like Higasa was waiting for him to drop a bomb on the Suisha students. They all met his glare.
Harumi could hear the obnoxious clock ticking as he fought the urge to stomp right out and never come back. Normally, he wouldn't hesitate, but he had a feeling Aki wouldn't be too happy about that.
Instead, Harumi asked: “Where's the bathroom?”
Shocked silence met his question.
Then, when he raised an eyebrow, one of the Suisha students… a girl with blond hair tied into two low pigtails shakily pointed toward the door.
“Uhm. Down the C-Hall. Keep going until you reach the end, turn left then right. Down the D-Hall and it's the fourth door on your right.”
Harumi blinked.
“Great. Thanks…” Harumi had already forgotten what the girl had said, but she'd mistaken his silence as an implication for her name.
“Ueno.” She said, pushing up her glasses.
Harumi went with it and nodded before leaving the room without another word.
He pretended not to hear the commotion that exploded as soon as the door clicked shut.
“You can't be serious,” Harumi groaned, dragging his hands down his face as he took yet another wrong turn. He was now in the A-Hall. You'd think that he would find any bathroom somewhere, even if it wasn't the one that girl had given him directions to. He hated big schools. At least he knew his way around Higasa, and yet even then, he found himself lost from time to time.
Turning yet again, he cursed beneath his breath and rubbed his hands up and down his arms. Shit. It was cold without his cardigan.
His shoes tapped against the ground, echoing in the empty hallway as he continued to walk.
It was hollow. Empty. Too empty. Something that Harumi wasn't too fond of. And very suddenly, his chest ached with the want to ditch the school and take the train straight to Aki’s house.
It took no more than a minute of consideration before Harumi pulled out his phone and tapped on Aki’s contact. Last night's messages looked back at him, a surprisingly lengthy one about nightmares. Specifically Aki’s.
The messages ended around eleven at night, where Harumi had called Aki as an alternative for Aki simply coming over to his house. Normally, Harumi would've insisted on it, but of course, he'd had this dumb debate Aki wouldn't let him miss in fear that he'd be shunned by his peers.
Harumi had fallen asleep when he heard Aki’s breathing finally even out. Harumi imagined it would've tickled against his ears.
Typing out a message to ask if Aki was home, he stopped short when the sound of music reached him down the hall.
Harumi looked around, his fingers hovering over his phone as he listened.
It became clear that the music was the familiar thrum of a guitar. Clear and crisp. Beautiful .
Harumi bit his lip, looking around one more time to make sure he was truly alone, before quietly sneaking his way over to the door the guitar's music came from. A plaque beside the entry read:
音楽室
Music Room.
The door was cracked ajar, just enough for Harumi to peek an eye through.
At first, he couldn’t see anything. But when he slightly adjusted himself, he spotted a head of brown hair peeking over the piano. A boy, from the looks of it, was playing guitar by himself in school on the weekend… willingly.
How did this guy even get in? Harumi assumed he must’ve been a Suisha student.
His thoughts came to a halt as he heard the boy mumble a curse and the music abruptly stopped. Harumi’s heart dropped, thinking that he must’ve been caught, but the boy only shook his head and muttered something about getting this right before beginning again.
Once Harumi was sure he was in the clear, he allowed himself to listen in again, only to realize that the melody the boy was playing was familiar. A song that he knew was definitely English.
Harumi squinted his eyes as he listened, trying to pin place the song's name, when he heard footsteps down the hall and a mix of voices calling through the halls.
Crap.
Harumi looked around, stepping away from the door as he frantically searched for somewhere to hide. From the sounds of it, these weren’t Higasa students. As annoying as his club mates were, he could recognize their voices without a face.
And while Harumi didn’t particularly care for their schools' rivalry, as one might guess, he also didn’t feel like getting jumped for wandering around their schools and eavesdropping on one of their students in the music room.
Harumi jogged over to a door across the hall, sweating when it didn’t open. He tried another one. Locked. Another. Another. Another.
Maybe Harumi should consider writing his will now while his bones functioned.
The voices sounded much closer than before, and now Harumi could hear snippets of their conversation.
Higasa. Went to Bathroom. Missing.
Find him.
Harumi’s mind helpfully supplied him with the memory of Aki stressing that they be more careful about their friendship being found out. Rambling about a fight that broke out between their schools off ground that resulted in two of the Suisha kids and one Higasa student in the ER.
Apparently healthcare wasn’t as expensive here as it was in America because people here had no problem risking it all just to wake up in a white room with doctors asking you how many fingers they were holding up.
Harumi took one look behind him and knew that the Suisha students would see him long before he could book it around the corner. So, Harumi cursed any mystical being that might’ve had it out for him and ducked into the music room.
The door clicked shut, loud enough that Harumi was sure the Suisha students must’ve heard.
Harumi hit the back of his head against the door before looking around for another spot to hide–
He blinked.
The music room was bigger than Harumi had realized. A row of guitars and another piano up against the wall across from him. Chairs in a disorganized mess all over the room, and instruments that Harumi couldn’t quite name in his panic, sat beside them. Like the bell had just rung for lunch, and the students would be back for their waiting instruments in an hour.
And in the midst of it all sat none other than Akihiko.
In unison, they spoke in shock.
“Harumi?!”
“You play guitar?”
Aki sputtered, his face warming, and Harumi could not be more thankful for the sight in this cold school. “Uh. Yes? Well– wait. What are you even doing here? I thought you had a Debate thing?”
“Uh. Yeah. I do.”
“Then why in the world are you here ? Do you have a death wish?”
“My debate is here! I told you last night!”
“No you didn’t,” Aki shot back, “You just told me you had a debate practice! Not that it would be here .”
“Oh.” Harumi conceded, pondering. “Guess I forgot to mention.”
Aki sighed, opening his mouth to speak when the voices from before very suddenly appeared outside the door.
Harumi clamped his mouth shut, wanting nothing more than to pound his head into the wall. Quickly, he mouthed to Aki to hide him. Now, preferably.
Aki looked between him and the door, biting his lip before setting his guitar down against his chair and hurrying over to a closet Harumi hadn’t seen before.
Grabbing Harumi’s hand without a second thought, Aki shoved Harumi inside.
Harumi half considered taking the beat down the Suisha students might’ve had prepped and ready for him when the first ten minutes passed.
Damn Akihiko and his popularity. The boys wouldn’t leave, too, in awe of their precious Bright Knight practicing during the weekend. And of course their beloved top student would know how to play guitar! Would he sing them a song?
(Harumi stamped down the growing pit of possessive jealousy, forcing it into a cage with a lock when Akihiko refused politely, only to tell them that he was waiting to play the song for someone else.)
“Ah, so the rumors are true!” One of the boys said, sly and mischievous from the tilt of his voice. “Shiraishi does have a girlfriend!”
“It was only a matter of time,” a deeper voice sighed.
“Yeah, I’m only surprised it took this long!”
Harumi tuned the rest out, hearing only Aki’s flustered response telling them that they had it all wrong. Five minutes later, the boys were out the door, apologizing for interrupting his practice time.
The room was silent for a long moment.
“I thought they’d never leave.” Aki whined.
“I don’t think I ever will either if you don’t let me out,” Harumi knocked on the door. “Oh, please, Bright Knight. Won’t you save me from thine chipped wooden doors?”
Aki groaned at the nickname, cringing at Harumi’s mocking request. He walked over and opened the closet door. Harumi stared at him with crossed arms and a quirked brow.
“What’s that look for?” Aki wrinkled his nose.
“Who’s that song for?”
Aki kicked him in the leg. “None of your business.”
They stood there silently for a moment. The room was shrouded in orange light from the orange curtains, tinting the morning sunlight streaming into the classroom.
(Aki felt his heart clench just the slightest bit when Harumi made that face. That one that he always had when he had something to say but held back with a slight pout.)
Relenting, Aki scratched the back of his neck before turning and walking back to his chair and picking up his guitar. He didn’t ignore the way Harumi perked up, brown eyes following him with curiosity. Aki waved him over, pulling a chair in front of him with his foot.
Harumi sat down, leaning forward just barely.
Aki laughed softly, eyes tracing over the strings of his guitar. The wood was light, the orange bouncing off of it like a mirror. Carefully, he evened out his breath and plucked a few strings, getting back into his zone before Harumi barged in.
He hadn’t played for anybody since middle school, and while he was planning on playing this song for someone soon enough, the time came a lot quicker than he anticipated. Whatever. That was fine.
Harumi watched attentively, straining to soak every ounce of this moment up.
When Aki finally began to play, Harumi’s brows furrowed. There it was again, that same song from before. It was definitely an English artist. Too bad Harumi wasn’t too good at placing names.
Harumi watched his fingers go from string to string, bending and sliding along the guitar. It didn’t take long for his eyes to find Aki’s face instead. Quickly though, Aki’s gaze shot back down and followed his fingers, but the longer he played, the more Harumi could tell that he didn’t need to look down to know what he was doing. His shoulder’s slowly relaxed, his hair falling slightly into his eyes.
Harumi couldn’t tell you what his favorite part was. He was overwhelmed by the soothing and old-timey melody, the way Aki held himself as he played– like the guitar was an old friend, or the way his voice sounded when he began to sing.
Ah. Harumi knew he knew this song.
“... And if we go someplace to dance, I know that there’s a chance you won’t be leaving with me,” Aki sang, shakily at first. Shy. His accent was obvious, but it only added to the charm. Harumi adored it. “Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place to have a drink or two…
“And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like ‘I love you’” Harumi bit his lip when Aki’s eyes found his before immediately launching back down, his face blossoming in the light of the room. “I can see it in your eyes you despise the same old lies you heard the night before…”
Harumi wanted nothing more than to bottle up this moment and keep it close to his chest for the rest of his life. The last thing to be buried with him in the ground, like the one gift from home he could take to the afterlife.
Aki’s voice was that of sweet honey and flowers reaching toward the sun. Sickeningly sweet, an addiction– something you sought after. Something Harumi sought after. Why was this the first time he’s ever heard Aki sing? It felt like a crime to be this late to the party of one.
The longer Aki sang, the more confident he seemed. No mistakes, just his voice– slightly raspy in just the right way, like his vocal cords were picked off the shelf and dusted off with care.
Harumi could already tell the song, short as it was, was nearing its end.
“The time is right, your perfume fills my head, the stars get red, and, oh, the night’s so blue,” Aki’s voice rose like a moonlit tide, soft and steady. Finally, Harumi caught his eyes, meeting his yet again as he continued. When Aki tried to shy away again, Harumi only moved his head down to catch him, maintaining their contact. Aki flushed. “And then I go and spoil it all by saying somethin’ stupid like, ‘I love you’.”
Harumi wasn’t a singer. Not by any means. Yet, something in Aki’s gaze compelled him to join– like the boy in front of him reaching out a hand, waiting for Harumi to join him on the dance floor. Considering Aki’s surprised reaction when Harumi did, in fact, join him, he hadn’t even known he was expecting it. It was second nature now, to expect Harumi to be right beside him in anything he did.
“I love you,” Aki sang alone, and then…
“I love you,” Harumi joined, shaky and unsure, but more than willing. And then again when Aki’s face beamed like the sun outside.
“I love you.” They sang together this time. Strangely, their voices blended together like a perfect contrast: The sun greeting the moon, the beach meeting the tide, open arms winding around a body, drenched and cold and small from the harsh rain. A body, a boy, that could be so much more– that was so much more than he realized.
“... I love you…”
The guitar’s last strum rang out before leaving them with their silence and beating hearts in their ears. Harumi blinked, then tilted his head and smiled. Despite the moment that would forever taste like apple cider against his tongue and stick to his skin like dew, his stomach clenched at a realization.
“Whoever you’re waiting to play that song for is really lucky, Aki.”
Aki stared at him in dazed confusion, like he, too, was still stuck in the song, before his eyes widened and he blushed. “Oh. Yeah, about that…” Aki coughed, breaking eye contact. “I mean, who else would I be willing to sing to, Harumi?”
Harumi was smart, and he didn’t particularly like to play dumb. It took him just a moment for his lips to form a small ‘o’ and for his own face to warm up. “ Oh. I just, well, I mean. I assumed it was for… I don’t know, a crush or something.” Harumi shrugged.
“I don’t really know anyone personally that I would sing a song to in English that understands English, Harumi.”
Harumi blinked, scoffing with a smile. “Alright. Fair. Point taken.” He pretended not to feels the lick of satisfaction that eased the monster in his gut. Yeah. This was for him and him alone.
(The monster didn’t care to clarify what exactly was theirs and no one elses: Aki or the song).
Both.
Aki laughed, eyes closed. Harumi would like to tell the reader to mind their own business if he could only watch with fondness and a softness only his parents got to see up until now.
Harumi bit his lip, opening his mouth to say something. Anything.
“Aki–”
Harumi stopped abruptly, both him and Aki going stiff as a board when they heard voices outside.
“Down the hall… two voices… isn’t Shirashi practicing… there?”
Aki and Harumi met each other’s wide eyes, wasting no time and hurrying to gather their things. Well, mostly Aki. He, as quickly and gently as he could, without making any noise and damaging his instrument, set his guitar down and grabbed his bag, tossing the strap over his shoulder.
“Go! In the closet!” Aki hissed, hands on Harumi’s shoulder as he hurried them to the closet.
“What about you? They’re definitely going to be suspicious now!” Harumi pointed out as Aki pushed him inside.
Aki bit his lip. “Well. There’s not much we can really do–”
The voices grew nearer, and they really didn’t have time for this. Harumi grabbed Aki by the wrist and pulled him into the closet with him. The door clicked shut, and Harumi quickly quieted Aki’s protests of, “No, wait–”, when the door to the music room opened.
“Shirashi? Are you in here?” One of the voices from before called into the room.
The closet wasn’t really cramped by any means. If they really wanted to, they could fit another person in here, but the pure fear of being found out had them clinging to each other. When were they not? Harumi stood in front of him, with Aki gripping his shoulders.
“I thought you said you heard people in here, Ueno?” A new voice whined.
“I did! I guess I might’ve been hearing some other student’s… isn’t there volleyball practice today?”
“Yeah, she probably just heard the volleyball team on their way to the gymnasium. There’s no one in here– see? Shirashi’s bag is gone, and his guitar is put up.”
“I guess so,” The whiney voice replied. “Come on, let’s keep looking. Who knows what that Kurose guy is doing without any supervision. It’s been like thirty minutes!”
Harumi and Aki held their breath, not daring to breathe until the group of students left and the door shut. They stayed in place until they couldn’t hear any more voices.
Finally, Aki sank forward, pressing his forehead against Harumi’s shoulder. “Jeez. That was really close. All of our work almost went down the drain just like that.”
“Yeah,” Harumi agreed, patting his head like a comforting gesture. “We should probably get out of here before they start actually looking instead of wandering around like idiots.”
Aki nodded, the action tickling Harumi as he grabbed for the door handle. “I’m already exhausted and it’s only ten in the morning,” Harumi rolled his eyes. “Junk food and movies at my place?”
Mumbling his agreement, Aki added hopefully, “Sleepover?”
“Sleepover.” Harumi nodded with a smile. Quickly, however, it fell when the door handle jiggled in place. The door didn’t budge when Harumi pushed on it. “What the…”
Aki peeked over his shoulder before groaning and immediately pushing his head back into Harumi’s shoulder. “That’s what I was trying to tell you before you pulled me in with you,” Aki sighed dejectedly. “The door locks inside. You can only open it from the outside.”
“What!?” Harumi cried, resisting the instinct to whip around and shake Aki. Instead, he turned his head to look at him in shock. Aki didn’t lift his head. “What do you mean? So we’re locked in here? How are we going to get you– why didn’t you tell me!”
“I tried, idiot!”
Harumi groaned, hitting his head against the door.
“Shit.”
“Shit,” Aki agreed.
“So, let me get this straight, Bunny.” Akemi tried and failed to fight off her giggles. “You’re telling me to trespass onto your school, climb inside through one of your busted windows– big security concern, by the way– and get you and Haru out of a closet because you guys locked yourself in trying to hide from your classmates?”
“... Yes, Akemi.”
Akemi hollered, wiping a tear from her eye.
“Please, Big Sis! We’ll bake you a cake… or something.” Harumi’s voice crackled over the phone. “I’m going to get claustrophobic and murder Aki if I’m stuck in here a minute longer.”
Aki raised a brow, flicking Harumi in the head– of which sat in Aki’s lap as has been for the past fifteen minutes. They were currently sitting, and for one of them, lying down in the closet and clinging to their last hope– Aki’s sister, Akemi.
“Oh, you kids are priceless,” Akemi sighed, catching her breath and grabbing her car keys. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec. Hang on tight, you two!”
“Ha-ha,” Aki deadpanned. “Thanks, Big Sis.”
Aki leaned his head back against the wall of the closet, hands returning to carding through Harumi’s hair– something he learned that Harumi was more than fond of during one of their many sleepovers when they had to sit down and get a particularly bad knot out of Harumi’s hair.
“This is all your fault, by the way,” Aki said.
“Shut up, Bunny.”